1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of polishing a semiconductor wafer retained by a template and to templates used in the polishing operation.
2. Description of Prior Art
As shown in FIG. 4, in the operation of polishing a semiconductor wafer 10 which is restrained within a template 8 and is impelled in to contact with an abrasive cloth 5, there exists a clearance 9 between the bottom surface of the template 8 and the upper surface of the abrasive cloth 5 due to the width difference between the template 8 and the semiconductor wafer 10. Therefore, the stresses induced on the upper surface of the abrasive cloth 5 vary abruptly within the region which takes the contact point 81 of the template 8 and the semiconductor wafer 10 as its center. For this reason, deflection 51a appears on the upper surface of the abrasive cloth 5, and this will cause inadequate contact between the outer peripheral portion 10a of the semiconductor wafer 10 and the outer contact surface 51 of the abrasive cloth 5. Accordingly, it is very difficult to polish the outer peripheral portion 10a of the semiconductor wafer 10. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the central portion of the polished surface of the semiconductor wafer 10 will become depressed, and the flatness of the semiconductor wafer 10 will be impaired after polishing.